Yahoo to Pull European HQ Out Of London For Geneva

[engine]

Yahoo, the internet company, is planning to move its European headquarters from London to Switzerland.

One person close to the move – understood to be called “Project Yodel” – said it was made for corporate tax reasons.

Yahoo said the move was “part of its ongoing international strategy to increase competitiveness and to deliver financial results, performance and efficiency”.

Yahoo to Pull European HQ Out Of London For Geneva [ft.com]

[davec]

Will this include for YSM (former overture) guys as well?

A version without registration on CNN [edition.cnn.com ]

[edited by: davec at 4:25 pm (utc) on Mar. 14, 2008]

[TinkyWinky]

They can move to Jersey or IOM for Tax reasons... how about another reason - an easy excuse to slash jobs across the board?

Can't see too many people from the UK / Ireland being able to make the move to Geneva... although the skiing is good... ;)

increase competitiveness

Can't see how this does that unless the French and Swiss are more efficient?

[caine]

its billy bull - job cuts all round on the yahoo front. if they choose to do that then i may bouycot there search engine - what the use in yahoo now-a-days.

sounds stupid - but there are sites that can exist beyond SE traffic - especilly yahoo. If they leave the UK on bull#*$! pretense then they need to be treated as bull#*$!ers

[koan]

I'll assume caine is british, not swiss.

[zett]

So, this non-news makes it to the front page on WW? I could not care less where the European HQ of Yahoo! was/is/will be. Why is this important for members here? I don't get it...

[Whitey]

I guess all business is driven by the bottom line.

And if Yahoo believes that by restructuring it's operations and/or corporate structure, that it will simplify it's tax obligations to improve the bottom line then it's shareholders would expect nothing else and the rest would follow as common sense considerations.

As everyone knows, especially at the corporate level, there are a lot of issues in taxation with regards to e-commerce, and it requires good advice and special management to deal with it, often with appropriate jurisdictions . Circumstance can also change.

If some of the staff are invaluable to Yahoo then i'm sure they would do all they can to retain them, otherwise i guess new jobs will be created in another region, and lost in the old region.

Even if vague, Yahoo's disclosure would likely be sincere as it has to answer to shareholders for it's actions.

[oddsod]

The move makes perfect sense. The tax climate in the UK is deteriorating and the UK doesn't look very business friendly anymore.

[danny]

Does this perhaps get them outside the scope of some EU regulations?

[Essex_boy]

Suspect it does.

[edited by: tedster at 7:34 am (utc) on Mar. 16, 2008]

[FattyB]

Is corporation tax for larger business not just about to go down in the UK?

[davidof]

I see they are going to Rolle, which is in the Vaud not Geneva canton, lots of Geneva cos are moving out there due reduced their own tax burdens.

[sem4u]

I feel sorry for those people who will effectively lose their jobs in this move. However, those that do move to Geneva should get great tax breaks themselves?

[davidof]

> However, those that do move to Geneva should get great tax breaks themselves?

well Rolle, not Geneva. It is a bit like calling Reading... London. Great tax breaks in what respect? The tax/social charge burden for employees isn't dissimilar and rents and general living costs are high, even in Vaud!

[jchampliaud]

and rents and general living costs are high, even in Vaud!

Yes, how right you are. I live in France in the suburbs of Geneva on the Annemasse side and rents are anything but cheap! On the Ferney-Voltaire side, near Rolle it isn't cheap either; in fact it’s more expensive as a lot of UN civil servants live there, in general rents in France as less than in Switzerland. So a lot of people work in Switzerland but live in France. But rents could be less than in London, but then isn't everything? Also all the employees will have to pay for their own health insurance, as Switzerland doesn’t have a national health insurance system.

[oddsod]

Buying health insurance is a darn sight cheaper than paying the UK government 23.8% of income as health insurance tax (National Insurance).

[jchampliaud]

Buying health insurance is a darn sight cheaper than paying the UK government 23.8% of income as health insurance tax (National Insurance).

Not in my experience and most importantly not in my experience in buying Swiss private health insurance. Insurance that includes deductibles.

[oddsod]

Bear in mind that the UK "health insurance tax" doesn't include opticians, dental care and lots of other stuff that you have to pay for privately (and prescription charges for those drugs you get "free").